Legendary camaraderie

Lt Col Dilbag Singh Dabas (Retd)

One Juglal and Sardara belonged to Majra (Dubaldhan) village in present-day Jhajjar district of Haryana. Juglal, the elder, got enlisted in 6 Jat Light Infantry in 1906, followed by his five years younger Sardara in 1911. During World War I, both served in the same company; the elder as Pay Havildar and the younger as Lance Naik.

6 Jat light Infantry was raised as 1st Battalion, 22nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry in 1803. The designation kept changing; in 1901, it became 6 Jat Light Infantry and retained the designation till 1921. In 1950, it became 1st Battalion (LI), The Jat Regiment. During mechanisation of infantry regiments in 1970, it was designated as 2nd Mechanised Battalion and remains as such.

On December 5, 1915, 6 Jat LI sailed from Suez, disembarked at Basra and formed part of 19th Brigade along with 2nd Black Watch Infantry. On January 20, 1916, a mixed force of 62 all ranks was formed for a limited offensive task. Hav Juglal, Naik Bakhtawar and Sepoy Bharat Singh, all from Majra, were among the six other ranks from the battalion in the mixed force. The force was to capture a Turkish position on the right bank of Wadi, a tributary of Tigris river in Mesopotamia (Iraq), and enter the trench.

The attack began at 7.45 am on 21st and after an hour’s fierce fight, the Turks were overpowered. An hour later, the Turks counter-attacked in overwhelming strength. The battle resulted in many dead and wounded. The news of the calamity spread fast. Sardara, though in another platoon, ran to the Medical Aid Post (MAP) where he was told by Capt Wells, the officiating Commanding Officer, that due to sporadic fire from the Turks, the casualties had not yet been evacuated.

Sardara sought permission to go forward to bring back his brother. The officer apprised him that the entire section strength of the battalion appeared to have been wiped out. Sardara had not come to hear that. After garnering information about the area, he dashed towards the trench under whatever cover available; apparently, the attackers had moved over to another section of the trench. During the frantic search, Sardara found Juglal with bayonet wounds, just about alive. The elder looked at his younger, smiled and breathed his last.

Just then he heard someone call ‘Sardare’. He found Bakhtawar and Bharat Singh lying grievously wounded, Bharat being more serious. By then the Turkish fire had almost died down.

Sardara, 6 feet plus and sturdy, dragged Bharat back towards the MAP and at the same time lent his shoulder to Bakhtawar, who was walking wounded. After covering 100 yards, he shouted for help. Soon, two stretcher bearers approached.

Finding at least two of his men alive was no less than a miracle for Capt Swell, who, however, remarked, “Was it worth taking such a risk?” The reply by Sardara was classic: “Sahab, I not only met my brother before he breathed his last, but also brought back two of my village brothers alive who otherwise might not have survived for long.”

Havildar Juglal was posthumously awarded the Indian Order of Merit Class 2 (equivalent of Maha Vir Chakra). The 28-year-old Kadyan Jat from Majra met his fate almost 2,000 miles from his village. But during his last moments, he was not alone; his younger brother was by his side.

Bakhtawar retired as Jemadar, remained in good health and died as an octogenarian. Bharat spent his long retired life with one leg since the other had to be amputated. Sardara retired as Honorary Captain with well deserved decorations: IDSM, OBI 2nd Class (Bahadur) and Cross of St George 3rd Class (Russia).

Honorary Captain Sardara was delighted when his four sons were commissioned into the Army, all in Rajputana Rifles. However, the fact that none of them joined his battalion, not even the Jat Regiment, was something that weighed on his mind. Finally, in 1965, after having persuaded Mohinder, his third eldest son, Sardara wrote to the Army Chief, who accepted his request promptly and Mohinder was transferred to 1st Jat Light Infantry.

Col Mohinder Singh Kadyan was awarded Kirti Chakra for bravery and the youngest, Rajendra Singh Kadyan, retired as Deputy Chief of Army Staff.

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